Ignition device

ABSTRACT

An ignition device comprises a casing formed of two halves which are integrally secured to each other and which are provided with a support arrangement for holding thereon a high voltage generating means and other elements.

[111 3,832,127 [451 Aug. 27, 1974 ABSTRACT to each other and ge generating means and United States Patent [191 Moriyn I IGNITION DEVICE [75] Inventor: Nobuyoshi Moriya, Urawa, Japan [73] Assignee: Mansei Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha,

[22] Filed:

21 Appl. No.: 371,758

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 20, 1972 [58] Field of Search 431/255, 344; 317/81 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,464,578 9/1969 Quercia i B l 2 4 f 3. rlsaiuflmnil, 3 7 1 e V 7 l 2 2 l 1 IGNITION DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ignition device, and more particularly to an ignition device having a high voltage generating means wherein a casing of the ignition device is provided with a support arrangement thereon for the high voltage generating means and other component elements so that they may be suitably arranged within the casing without using other support frame structure.

2. Description of the Prior Art In prior art ignition devices, it is known to use a screw for supporting on a casing thereof a high voltage generating means which includes a chassis, a piezoelectric unit arranged within the chassis, a hammer supported on the chassis to impart a blow to the piezoelectric unit and a spring disposed within the chassis for applying an impact energy to the hammer. This is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,471. Further, it is known in the prior art to secure a high voltage generating means, a fuel reservoir and other elements within a casing by means of a support frame member such as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,? 10. However, for example, according to the construction of the ignition device as shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,710, the ignition device often causes separation in the positional relation of the component elements, especially between the casing, the high voltage generating means and the fuel reservoir because the elements are held within the casing in a fixed rela tionship with the flat inner face of the casing. Thus, the elements are susceptible to damage owing to the flat inner face of the casing by an outward influence of shocks. Accordingly, it is required in the conventional ignition devices for regulating the positional relation of the elements in the casing to employ solder or an adhesive agent to fixedly secure the elements to the casing, or as an alternative, to provide a support frame structure with the ignition device and other elements secured to the frame structure through the intermediary of a screw means to the casing. The construction of the ignition devices is thus complicated in manufacturing and in assembling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an ignition de vice includes a casing formed of two halves which are tightly connected to each other and which are provided thereon with a support arrangement for component elements. The elements are disposed-on one of the two halves of the casing and then covered by the other half thereof and are thereby effectively supported within the casing. If desired, the casing may be made of thermoplastic material and the two halves of the casing made integral with each other by means of an-ultrasonic weld.

Preferably, there is provided in the ignition device a casing of two halves which includes at the lower part other. A high voltage generating means is arranged within the casing and includes a piezoelectric unit which has thereon a groove, a, compressive member moveable to apply a compressive force to the piezoelectric unit to allow the high voltage to be generated in the latter, an operative piece adapted to operate the compressive member, an electrode electrically connected to the piezoelectric unit in order to discharge the high voltage generated in the latter and an electrode support for supporting the electrode. The engaging portion of the casing is engaged with the groove of the piezoelectric unit. The projecting portion is adapted to regulate the movement of the operative piece and the guiding portion moveably supports the compressive member. The electrode support is fixed to the support portion. In this manner, the high voltage thereof an engaging portion, at its center a projecting portion and a guiding portion which are adjacent to each other and at its upper part a support portion. Each half of the casing has on the side edge thereof a flanged portion so formed as to be engaged with a depressed portion formed on the lateral edge of the other so that the two halves of the casing may be connected to each generating means is arranged within the casing to work effectively.

In a further feature of the invention, there is provided in the ignition device a casing, a fuel reservoir disposed in the casing for retaining a fuel gas therein, a valve provided on the reservoir to issue a fuel gas from the latter, a high voltage generating means which will be explained below, and a finger piece pivotally mounted on the casing for actuating the high voltage generating means. The high voltage generating means comprises a piezoelectric unit, an impact member adapted to impart a blow to the piezoelectric unit to allow the high voltage to be generated in-the latter, a cam provided in the impact member in order to normally hold it remote from the piezoelectric unit, and an operative piece adapted to operate through the cam of the impact member. An energy accumulating spring is disposed between the operative piece and the impact member to apply the impact energy to the latter. The device also includes an electrode support with an electrode thereon which is, electrically connected to the piezoelectric unit to discharge the high voltage generated in the latter. The casing is provided on the inner face thereof with a receiving recess for receiving the fuel reservoir which is supported at the lower portion thereof by the base of the casing. A standing wall is formed adjacent to the receiving recess which prevents the operative piece of the high voltage generating means from moving in the horizontal direction of the ignition device, and a guiding path is formed at the side of the standing wall and adapted to engagingly guide the cam provided in the impact member. A groove is formed under the guiding path to be engaged with the piezoelectric unit which is also supported at the bottom thereof by the base of the casing, and a cylindrical axle is provided slightly above the receiving recess for pivotally mounting thereon the finger piece and for securing thereto the electrode support which has preferably a portion adapted to be engaged with a second recess formed at the suitable part of the casing. There is also provided at the upper part of the casing, a depression for fixedly securing thereto a windshield which is made of metallic material and adapted to guard the flame from the wind. If desired, the casing has a groove for holding an ornamental plate at the bottom side thereof. Further, in order to facilitate the production of the casing, it is preferred that the casing is made of a thermoplastic material such as synthetic resin.

It is an object therefore of the invention to provide an ignition device which is compact in construction and easy to manufacture and assemble.

it is another object of the invention to provide a casing of an ignition device which is provided with a sup port arrangement for component elements to allow them to be suitably arranged thereon.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a casing of an ignition device formed of two halves which are tightly engageable with each other and which have on the inner face thereof portions so constructed as to regulate and to guide the operation of the high voltage generating means of the ignition device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical section showing the general arrangement of the elements located in the casing of a lighter in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical plan showing the inner face of one half of the lighter casing comprising two halves;

FIG. 3 shows the other half of the casing; and

F IG. 4 is a perspective showing the electrode support as taken from the left of FIG. 1.

DETAlLED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 4, there is shown a gas lighter which includes a casing 1 comprising two halves which preferably may be formed of a plastic material by molding process. A fuel reservoir 2 for retaining a fuel gas is disposed within the casing l and has afuel refill valve 21 and a burner valve 22 provided with a moveable nozzle 23. A high voltage generating means is arranged at the side of the fuel reservoir2 and comprises a piezoelectric unit 31 which has thereon a groove 32 and an impact receiving head 33, an impact member 34 moveably disposed above the piezoelectric unit 31 to impart a blow to the latter thereby to allow the high voltage to be generated in the piezoelectric unit 3l.A hole 35 receives therethrough a pin 36 which normally holds the impact member 34 remote from the piezoelectric unit 31. An operative piece 37 having an opening 38 controls the pin 36, and is vertically operable to actuate through the pin 36 the impact member 34. An energy accumulating spring 39 is disposed between the operative piece 37 and the impact member 34 in order to apply an impact energy to the latter and a return spring 40 is provided between the operative piece 37 and the piezoelectric unit 31 for returning the former to the original position. A lead wire 41 is electrically connected to the piezoelectric unit 31 so-as to conduct the high voltage generated in the latter to an electrode 42. Arranged in the upper portion of the easing 1 is an electrode support 43 having therein a passage 44 of two different diameters and a groove communicated with the upper end of the passage 44. The electrode support 43 is made of an insulation material. The electrode 42 is mounted on the groove of the electrode support 43 and connected to a resistance 45 disposed in the larger diameter portion of the passage 44. The electrode support 43 is further provided at the center portion thereof with a through-bore 43a and at the lower side portion thereof with a protrusion 43b which is adapted to be secured to the casing l. The tip of the electrode 42 extends to the space defined within the casing l and in operation causes a spark discharge between itself and the nozzle 23 of the burner valve 22 which serves as the opposite electrode. The resistance 45 is electrically connected through the lead wire 41 to the piezoelectric unit 31. In assembling, the resistance 45 may be inserted from the upper opening of the passage 44 into the larger diameter portion thereof to be disposed on the step portion formed at the boundary of said two different diameters of the passage 44 and to be fixedly held by means of the adhesive or the like. Then, the lead wire 41 may be inserted from the lower opening of the passage 44 into the smaller diameter portion thereof thereby to be connected to a lead extending downwardly from the resistance 45. Also arranged in the upper part of the casing 1 and partially projecting from the latter is a fingerpiece 3 which is provided with a pin 4 adapted to actuate the operative piece 37 of the high voltage generating means. An opening in the tinger piece 3 is adapted to be pivotally supported therethrough on the casing 1, and a portion is adapted to actuate a valve control means 5 which is engaged at one end thereof. The other end of the finger piece engages the moveable nozzle 23 of the valve 22 to control the opening and closing movement of the latter. The front end of the finger piece 3 is rested on a windshield 6 which is mounted on the upper end of the casing 1 with an air intake slit 7 and an opening (not shown) which will be explained hereinafter. As shown in F 168. 2 and 3, there are provided on the inner face of the casing l a receiving recess 10 for receiving therein the fuel reservoir 2 and a protruding portion 11 for preventing the reservoir 2 from moving along the longitudinal axis of the lighter. The recess is formed in correspondence with the contour of the fuel reservoir 2 and has a predetermined depth to tightly receive the reservoir 2. The reservoir 2 is also supported at the lower end thereof on the base of the casing l and at its sides by two projections 12 formed on the sidewall of the casing 1. Adjacent to the receiving recess 10, a standing wall 13 is provided to prevent the operative piece 37 from moving along the horizontal axis of the lighter. Provided at the side of the standing wall 13 is an L-shaped guiding path 14 which receives the pin 36 in the hole 35 of the impact member 34 and guides the movement thereof. A protrusion 15 is formed under the guiding path 14, which engages the groove 32 of the piezoelectric unit 31 which is supported at the bottom thereof by the base 9 on the lower part of the casing 1. Provided slightly above the receiving recess 10 is a cylindrical axle 16 on which the finger piece 3 is pivotally supported through the opening thereof. The electrode support 43 is mounted on the cylindrical axle 16 through the through-hole 43a thereof and also engaged through the protrusion 43b thereof with a recess 17 formed at the side of the standing wall 13. This arrangement fixes electrode support 43 within the casing 1. The windshield 6 is mounted through the opening thereof on the cylindrical axle 16 so that it may be fixed to a depression 18 formed in the upper end of the casing. The edges of the two halves of the casing l are formed to complement each other and to thus be fixedly secured to each other. Flanged portions 51 are provided on the lateral edges of one-half of the casing l and adapted to be engaged with depressed portions 52 provided on the lateral edges of the other half of the casing 1. A first boss 53 is provided on the flanged portion 51 so as to be cooperatively engaged with a first hole 54 provided in the depressed portion 52. There is further provided on the lower edge of one half of the casing l a second boss 55 which is adapted to be engaged with a second hole 56 provided on the lower edge of the other half thereof. In assembling, the two halves of the casing l are fixedly secured to each other due to the abovedescribed construction and may be made integral to each other by means of an ultrasonic welding process.

In operation, when the finger piece 3 is depressed, it

rotates around the cylindrical axle 16 in clockwise direction to actuate the operative piece 37 downwardly due to the pin 4 provided in the finger piece 3. With further depression of the finger piece 3, the operative piece 37 allows the pin 36 through the upper slant edge of the opening 38 thereof to move transversely along the horizontal section of the L-shaped guiding path 14. As soon as the pin 36 reaches the longitudinal section of the guiding path 14, it is directed toward the piezoelectric unit 31 which is aligned with the longitudinal section. The impact member 34 moves toward the piezoelectric unit 31 in order to impart a blow to the latter under the influence of the energy accumulating spring 39 to thereby allow the high voltage to be generated in the piezoelectric unit 31. Simultaneously, the finger piece 3 actuates the valve control means 5 to open the burner valve 22 so that a fuel gas is issued from the reservoir 2 and then ignited by the spark discharge of high voltage between the electrodes 23 and 42. With release of the depressing force imposed on the finger piece 3, the operative piece 37 is returned to the original position by means of the return spring 40 together with the pin 36 and the impact member 34 through the lower slant edge of the opening 38. At the same time, the finger piece 3 is returned to the original position through the top of the operative piece 37 under action of the spring 40.

It is to be understood that the form of our invention herein shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of our invention or the scope of the claims.

What we claim is:

1. An ignition device comprising a casing of two halves, a piezoelectric unit, an operative member to operate a compressive member and said compressive member to energize said piezoelectric unit both said operative member and said compressive member moveably supported on and guided by said casing, an electrode support fixedly supported on said casing, means integrally formed on each of said two halves to fixedly secure said piezoelectric unit to said casing a guiding means integrally formed on each of said two halves to moveably support said compressive member, means integrally formed on each of said two halves to regulate the movement of said operative member and means integrally formed on each of said two halves to fixedly secure said electrode support, and one half of said casing which is provided with a flanged edge portion adapted to be engaged with a depressed edge portion formed on the other half thereby allowing the two halves of said casing to befixed to each other.

2. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric unit securing means integrally formed on each of said two halves has a protrusion for engaging a groove formed on said piezoelectric unit and wherein said piezoelectric unit is supported on the base of said casing.

3. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means integrally formed on each of said two halves forms a path for guiding said compressive member to apply compressive force to said piezoelectric unit by the operation of said operative member.

4. An ignition device according to claim 3, wherein said guiding path is consisted of two portions, one of which is adapted to normally hold said compressive member remote from said piezoelectric unit and the other is adapted to guide said compressive member to energize said piezoelectric unit.

5. An ignition device according to claim 4, wherein said compressive member has a hole to receive therein a cam means which is normally held in inoperative position by one of said two portions and is guided to operative position through the other of said two portions.

6. An ignition device according to claim 5, wherein said cam means fonns a pin the edge portion of which is normally engaged with one of said two portions and is guided by the other of said two portions on operation.

7. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said regulating means integrally formed on each of said two halves includes a standing wall to prevent said operative member from moving in the horizontal direction of said ignition device.

8. An ignitiondevice according to claim 1, comprising said electrode support securing means integrally formed on each of said two halves provided with a cylindrical axle and a recess, said electrode support provided with a through-hole and a protrusion wherein said cylindrical axle and said recess are respectively engaged with said through-hole and said protrusion.

9. An ignition device according to claim 8, comprising said operative member provided with an opening and wherein said cylindrical axle is further adapted to pivotally mount said operative member.

10. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said ignition device comprises means integrally formed on each of said two halves to receive a fuel reservoir disposed adjacent to said piezoelectric unit.

11. An ignition device according to claim 10, wherein said fuel reservoir receiving means forms a recess as a complement of the contour of said fuel reservoir and has a predetermined depth to tightly receive therein said fuel reservoir.v

12. An ignition device according to claim 11, wherein said fuel reservoir receiving means includes a protrusion integrally formed on each of said two halves adapted to prevent said fuel reservoir from moving on the longitudinal axis of said ignition device.

13. An ignition device according to claim 11, wherein said ignition device comprises a boss provided on said flanged edge portion and a hole provided on said depressed edge portion to fixedly secure said two halves of said casing to each other.

14. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said ignition device comprises a depression integrally formed on each of said two halves to secure a windshield thereon. I

15. An ignition device according to claim 13, wherein said two halves of said casing are joined by an ultrasonic weld.

16. An ignition device according to claim 15, wherein said casing is a thermoplastic material. 

1. An ignition device comprising a casing of two halves, a piezoelectric unit, an operative member to operate a compressive member and said compressive member to energize said piezoelectric unit both said operative member and said compressive member moveably supported on and guided by said casing, an electrode support fixedly supported on said casing, means integrally formed on each of said two halves to fixedly secure said piezoelectric unit to said casing a guiding means integrally formed on each of said two halves to moveably support said compressive member, means integrally formed on each of said two halves to regulate the movement of said operative member and means integrally formed on each of said two halves to fixedly secure said electrode support, and one half of said casing which is provided with a flanged edge portion adapted to be engaged with a depressed edge portion formed on the other half thereby allowing the two halves of said casing to be fixed to each other.
 2. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said piezoelectric unit securing means integrally formed on each of said two halves has a protrusion for engaging a groove formed on said piezoelectric unit and wherein said piezoelectric unit is supported on the base of said casing.
 3. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said guiding means integrally formed on each of said two halves forms a path for guiding said compressive member to apply compressive force to said piezoelectric unit by the operation of said operative member.
 4. An ignition device according to claim 3, wherein said guiding path is consisted of two portions, one of which is adapted to normally hold said compressive member remote from said piezoelectric unit and the other is adapted to guide said compressive member to energize said piezoelectric unit.
 5. An ignition device according to claim 4, wherein said compressive member has a hole to receive therein a cam means which is normally held in inoperative position by one of said two portions and is guided to operative position through the other of said two portions.
 6. An ignition device according to claim 5, wherein said cam means forms a pin the edge portion of which is normally engaged with one of said two portions and is guided by the other of said two portions on operation.
 7. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said regulating means integrally formed on each of said two halves includes a standing wall to prevent said operative member from moving in the horizontal direction of said ignition device.
 8. An ignition device according to claim 1, comprising said electrode support securing means integrally formed on each of said two halves provided with a cylindrical axle and a recess, said electrode support provided with a through-hole and a protrusion wherein said cylindrical axle and said recess are respectively engaged with said through-hole and said protrusion.
 9. An ignition device according to claim 8, comprising said operative member provided with an opening and wherein said cylindrical axle is further adapted to pivotally mount said operative member.
 10. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said ignition device comprises means integrally formed on each of said two halves to receivE a fuel reservoir disposed adjacent to said piezoelectric unit.
 11. An ignition device according to claim 10, wherein said fuel reservoir receiving means forms a recess as a complement of the contour of said fuel reservoir and has a predetermined depth to tightly receive therein said fuel reservoir.
 12. An ignition device according to claim 11, wherein said fuel reservoir receiving means includes a protrusion integrally formed on each of said two halves adapted to prevent said fuel reservoir from moving on the longitudinal axis of said ignition device.
 13. An ignition device according to claim 11, wherein said ignition device comprises a boss provided on said flanged edge portion and a hole provided on said depressed edge portion to fixedly secure said two halves of said casing to each other.
 14. An ignition device according to claim 1, wherein said ignition device comprises a depression integrally formed on each of said two halves to secure a windshield thereon.
 15. An ignition device according to claim 13, wherein said two halves of said casing are joined by an ultrasonic weld.
 16. An ignition device according to claim 15, wherein said casing is a thermoplastic material. 